How to Realize Value from Your Business Process Improvement Program

By Gerry Bruno

Many organizations embark on business process improvement (BPI) or systems upgrades with the promise of measurable results—lower operating costs, fewer defects, faster cycle times, better customer satisfaction, or improved profitability. Yet, despite those goals, it’s common for projected savings to evaporate after a process is improved or a system is implemented.

Why? Because most business processes contain about 80% non–value-added activity — which represents a massive “gold mine” of opportunity. When leveraged well, focused improvements can eliminate as many as 60% of process steps, significantly reducing cycle time.

But real achievement goes beyond identifying waste — it’s about locking in those gains.

The Challenge: Why Promised Savings Disappear

• In too many cases, executives invest in transformation only to be disappointed when the forecasted benefits don’t materialize.
• Simply cutting headcount is a blunt approach — and one that can destroy morale, loyalty, and long-term sustainability.
• Filling the gap with attrition doesn’t always work either: it’s slow, random, and may misalign with where improvements actually occurred.
• Worst of all, without a plan, “Parkinson’s Law” comes into play: work expands to fill the time available for it. After process improvements free up capacity, people may simply refill their time with lower-value tasks — erasing those efficiency gains.

The Solution: Capture and Reallocate the Savings

To truly “cash in” on your process improvements, you must repurpose the time you free up. That means:

1. Identifying where you’ve reduced waste — Use baseline and future-state mapping to uncover exactly where non-value work was removed.
2. Developing a reallocation plan — Don’t leave freed-up hours to chance. Intentionally redirect them toward higher-value activities: innovation, customer engagement, training, revenue-generating work.
3. Embedding repurposing into your continuous improvement model — Insert a dedicated “Reallocation of Resources” step into your BPM cycle, ideally between designing the future state and implementing changes.
4. Monitoring and measuring — Ensure metrics are in place to measure both traditional process KPIs (cycle time, defects) *and* how well the repurposed capacity is being used.

A Proven Framework: 8-Step Process Improvement Model

Here’s a refined model that explicitly integrates this reallocation mindset:

1. Preparation — Define the scope, objectives, and metrics of your process initiative.
2. Documentation — Map your current (baseline) process in detail, including step counts and metrics.
3. Analysis — Identify improvement opportunities and analyze their impact.
4. Synthesis — Design the future-state process.
5. Reallocation of Resources — New: Plan where you’ll redirect the time and resources made available.
6. Acceptance — Present your proposal and secure buy-in from key stakeholders.
7. Implementation — Put the changes into action and standardize the improved workflows.
8. Continuous Improvement — Track performance, revisit metrics, and keep refining.

Real-World Example: Sarasota County

One powerful example comes from Sarasota County, Florida. Rather than just cutting staff after improving an Accounts Payable process, the county reallocated the freed-up capacity to meaningful, high-value work:

• They broke improvements into projects (e.g., training vendors, redesigning compliance processes, updating systems).
• They involved the Accounts Payable team deeply in implementation, ensuring the work was engaging and mission-critical.
• They timed projects so that as old tasks phased out, new, higher-impact responsibilities phased in — preventing “Parkinson’s Law” from draining the value of their improvement work.

As a result, they preserved capacity, retained employee goodwill, and sustained the improvement gains long-term.

Final Thoughts

Improving business processes isn’t just about cutting steps or automating systems—it’s about ensuring that those improvements translate into real, sustainable value. By proactively planning for how you’ll reallocate the time and capacity that you free up, you can avoid the common trap of watching your “savings” quietly slip away.

If you’re interested in building a BPM strategy that locks in value — and fosters continuous improvement — Corporate Education Group can help. Reach out to us to explore how we can partner together and make your BPM initiative profitable, sustainable, and people-centered.

About the Author

Gerry Bruno, Trainer and Consultant for Corporate Education Group and President and Founder of Gerard Bruno Associates, started his process improvement career in 1979. At that time, he was tasked with starting an internal Business Process Improvement consultancy which led to the development of a program that reduced the number of steps in existing work flows by an average of 62%; in addition to this, Gerry also created the WIN (Work Improvement Now) Demonstration Project, a three day training program that routinely reduces troublesome processes by an average of more than 50%. He is also the co-developer of the Value-Added Transition Systems (VATS) Graphical Process Improvement Software System.